


Speed Dating in a Raft

by Nextredpaladin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hance is in the background pretty much, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Shiro is in love at first sight, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates, They are all colleages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 11:25:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15436020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nextredpaladin/pseuds/Nextredpaladin
Summary: Pairings are made by the universe and distinguished by timers on peoples wrist that turn to words after the pair meets. Things get messy when a group of colleagues meet two new professors and four of their timers run out at the same time.





	Speed Dating in a Raft

**Author's Note:**

  * For [leafyxthiefy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafyxthiefy/gifts).



> I did this piece for LeafyxThiefy on Tumblr for the Shklance Summer Exchange! It was a pleasure writing it and I hope you have a great time reading it!

Shiro was just five when he first understood what the countdown on his wrist meant. His mother sat him down at the table and told him how these timers would appear on everyone's wrists when they were born. When they ran out, they were supposed to meet their soulmate. After meeting them, a “love word” as they were called, would appear where the timer was. The love word could be anything pertaining to a person’s soulmate.

 

For example, his friend found the love word “green” written on her wrist after handing the money to the pizza delivery man who drove a custom-made green car. His own mother told him about her love word, “observatory”. As it turned out, Shiro’s soon to be dad was an astronomer, working at one of the top observatories in the country. Of course, this fact didn't stop people from trying to break the chain and date whoever they wanted, but 99% of the time, those relationships didn't work out. 

 

In all fairness, he had never expected to find himself in the kind of situation he was currently in. No one could have predicted such a situation to begin with. White-water rafting what  _ not _ what Shiro had in mind when he’d signed on for a team bonding exercise with his new colleagues. Maybe an obstacle course or board games, but on his list of “Top Recommended Activities to Bring Your Team Together”, he had to admit, rafting was nowhere to be found.

 

The days leading up to the big event were calm and as expected. Shiro, being new to the staff at Naxela University, or NXU as everyone insisted on calling it, was dragged around the campus until his legs were sore. His new coworkers in the history department we thrilled to have him by their side. Upon hearing of his arrival, they formed a not-so-inconspicuous band that followed him around, ducking behind anything they could when he took notice of their presence. Sure, it was a bit on the strange side to be stalked by your newest friends, but he took it as a gesture of open-hearted kindness.

  
  


It wasn't until they were at the river that Shiro officially met his coworkers. There were 4 people standing around a raft and looking around when the girl with silver hair pointed at him and motioned for him to come and join the rest of the group. 

 

Shiro walked over to them and waved awkwardly, "Hey, guys." He smiled and looked at the raft, silently hoping that today was going to be a good day. 

 

"Hello, Shiro! Welcome to NXU's history department!" she smiled at Shiro, "I'm Allura! Then there is Hunk, Pidge, and Keith. We are still waiting for another new professor. My Uncle Coran owns the rafting company, so we get to go with just us and him today. It'll be pretty fun." she finished, sticking her hand out for him to shake her hand. Now it made sense why out of all the team bonding activities they could've done, it was rafting.

 

Shiro shook her hand and nodded, "It's nice to meet you all, I'm glad to be working with you guys." Shiro looked up the small hill they were at the bottom of and raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, seeing a boy running down towards them. 

 

"I'm so sorry I'm late! I missed the turn for this place like 500 times." he said in a rushed voice, "I'm Lance, it's a pleasure to meet you all!" he said, quickly shaking all their hands. 

 

After a short meeting between all of the new colleges and Coran explained what exactly they were doing, they all got their life jacket on and got into the raft. Shiro rolled up his sleeves and froze. When he had left this morning there were still numbers on his wrist. He didn't know exactly what time they said, but he knew for sure that they were there. Now the word 'Mothman' was where the timer once sat on his wrist. 

 

"Hey, guys, could you all like... look at your timers?" Shiro asked, looking up from his wrist. The group looked at their wrists in unison. 

 

"Mine's gone." Hunk said, scratching his head. Shiro smiled a little, Hunk seemed really nice and he could feel a bit of excitement building up in his stomach. 

 

"So is mine!" Lance yelled, pumping his fist into the air. A group of three was practically unheard of, but Shiro guessed it could happen. 

 

"Mine is too," Keith said softly, speaking for the first time since he'd met him. Shiro looked up towards him and caught how the sun beating off the river made Keith's eyes look like the night sky. Crap, he's hot too.

 

"Well... what's yours say?" Shiro asked, vaguely gesturing to all of them.

 

"Beach. So, do you guys like the beach?" Hunk asked, shrugging a little. Shiro always loved the beach, but rarely ever visited it. 

 

"I love the beach, but I haven't been in a while." Shiro offered, smiling a little. 

 

"I hate the beach. Beaches have sand... and people." Keith grumbled out. 

 

"You work at a college full of people-" Hunk looked at him, raising his eyebrow. "Nevermind, Lance, what about you?"

 

"I grew up near a beach! I used to go every day!" he answered excitedly, "Also, technology?" he raised an eyebrow and looked at the group. 

 

"I have a degree in engineering, that could be considered technology." Hunk smiled at Lance. 

 

"I work well with technology, but I've never done anything big with it," Shiro said.

 

"My phone is my life," Keith mumbled out, paddling harder and making the boat turn a little, "Gay."

 

"I'm bisexual, so that's it, I'm out!" Lance laughed. 

 

"I'm pretty gay, so that doesn't really help." Hunk chuckled a little and looked towards Shiro, waiting for his answer. 

 

"I'm gay... it took me a while to accept myself and become comfortable with it, but I'm gay," he half smiled, looking down the river and seeing a section of rapids coming up. 

 

"What's yours, Shiro?" Keith asked, looking over at him. 

 

"Mothman?" Shiro questioned, showing the others his wrist. 

 

"Mothman!" Keith's eyes lit up and he jumped up in the raft, "I love Mothman! Do you know anything about Mothman?" he questioned excitedly. His eyes became like starry nights again they were navy, but the sun made them shimmer. 

 

"Keith you're going to want to sit down, or at least help by doing your job and steering." Pidge directed at him. 

 

"Mothman is so cool! He's my favorite cryptid! I hunt for him all the time!" Keith went on, ignoring Pidge's comment. 

 

Shiro looked at the river and saw that the raft was on a dead set path for a large rock, "Keith, please sit down?" he asked, looking towards the others as they tried to paddle the best they could without having their person to steer. 

 

As soon as they hit the rock Keith lost his balance and fell into the water. He came up from under the water a second later, struggling to stay afloat and choking on water. Before Shiro could comprehend what he was doing he jumped into the water and swam towards Keith, hoisting him up over his shoulder. 

 

When they finally got to a more shallow part of the river Shiro help Keith back into the raft before hoisting himself back in. Keith blushed and stayed silent the whole time. 

 

* * *

 

The last hour of rafting had no other complications, when they finally got back onto land everyone helped Coran pack up and then left almost immediately. 

 

“Shiro!” he heard Keith yell from behind him. He whipped around and smiled at him. Some of his hair was sticking to his face because it was still wet from rafting and his eyes looked determined but happy.

 

“Yes, Keith?” Shiro asked. 

 

“Thank you for saving me earlier, you didn’t have to do that,” he spoke shyly, looking down the whole time. 

 

“It was no problem, you are my soulmate after all.” Shiro laughed. 

 

Keith opened his mouth before immediately closing it, a deep blush colored his cheeks. 

 

“I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner tonight? I’m free and- and yeah.” He stumbled nervously on his words. 

 

“I would love to, Keith.” Shiro smiled. 

 

“Good because I also don’t have a car and really need a ride home.” he laughed out and Shiro joined in on the laughing. 

 

Shiro reached down and grabbed Keith’s hand, holding it and directing them towards his car. 


End file.
